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Itranspired Ruben Amorim could survive losing against Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Over System & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Power Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the product, yet finally accountable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.